Legio X Fretensis

Legio X Fretensis was a legion of the Roman Army which was raised by Gaius Octavius in 41 BC. It fought against Sextus Pompey at the Battle of Naulochus in 36 BC and against Mark Antony at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC, and it earned its cognomen Fretensis ("of the straits") from fighting against Pompey at the Strait of Messina at Naulochus. It was later redeployed to Roman Macedonia, and it fought against the Sarmatians in 16 BC, took part in Germanicus' campaign in the Levant, and was centrally involved in the First Jewish-Roman War of 66-73 AD under the command of Vespasian. After the conclusion of the revolt, the legion was stationed in Jerusalem, and its camp was built from the remaining portions of Herod the Great's destroyed palace. During the early 2nd century AD, the legion participated in Trajan's Parthian campaign, only to be caught up in the Bar Kokhba revolt of 132-135 AD. A vexillation of the legion served under Marcus Aurelius during his Marcomannic Wars in Germany, and it defected to the Gallic Empire during the Crisis of the Third Century. During Diocletian's reign, the legion moved to Aqaba, and it remained there into the 390s.